There Are Now 1.5 Billion Windows Devices On The Market

If there ever was one company that made it a business of throwing out big numbers, it is Microsoft. That practice slowed down a tad during the past few years, but Redmond is back touting these figures.

The software titan touched upon the massive Windows ecosystem at its Windows Partner keynote at the ongoing Worldwide Partner Conference 2014, with Tony Prophet stating that the company now has more than has 1.5 billion devices that are powered by Windows.

These include all Windows devices — from desktop PCs to tablet and Windows Phone handsets. This is a nice increase from the total of 1.25 billion that were announced back in 2011.

Another interesting figure is that 81% of CIOs are planning a Windows tablet rollout this year. And this ties into the immeasurable opportunities that Microsoft and its hardware partners so often talk about. Untapped potential there, massive untapped potential.

Ultimately, while these are big figures, and true amounts that show the encouraging signs that the Windows platform is steadily growing, fact is that not all these devices are modern.

In the sense that a lot of people are still using older operating systems like Windows XP and Windows 7, platforms that cannot run Metro apps and are not truly mobile.

Microsoft needs to move big numbers in order to attract developers into its new ecosystem.

Luckily, initiatives like cutting the cost of licensing should pave way for more affordable tablets and laptops hitting the store shelves, which in turn should make for much better statistics.